NDA government has killed UPA's land Act: Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the NDA government of "killing" the land bill passed by the previous UPA government. He said that the government has removed the essential clauses on consent and social impact in its new bill. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the land bill brought by the Narendra Modi government, Rahul Gandhi took repeated digs at the government, terming it "suit boot ki sarkar" and pro-corporate.

"We took two years to bring land bill. NDA government killed it within a few days," he said. He termed consent clause of the 2013 land act brought by the United Progressive Alliance government as the "most important" part of the legislation. "(The government) says that if they snatch land, they will do so without asking (the farmer)," Gandhi said.

He said the government has used the axe second time after the "corpse (of bill)" fell. Gandhi said the government was of the view that there should be no social impact assessment (SIA). He said the SIA will help to know who would benefit from the project.

Gandhi said the government used the axe for third time to remove from the act the provision which provided for return of land to the farmer if the project was not initiated in five years.

"Whether the project is completed in five years or 50 years, land will not now be returned to the farmer," he said. Gandhi, who faced interruptions from the treasury benches, said that according to information obtained from the finance ministry under the Right to Information Act only eight percent projects were pending due to problems concerning land.

"The government has land. Forty percent of land in SEZs is vacant. But you want to snatch land of farmer," he said.

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